Scientists identify a roadmap to 'cancer dependencies' in lymph node cancer

Blocking lymphoma cells' growth controls seen as potential treatment strategy

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute used an experimental drug to block vulnerable cell growth pathways in a diverse group of aggressive B cell lymphomas, suggesting a potential new avenue for treating the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The investigators report in Cancer Cell that a group of drugs known as bromodomain inhibitors shut down the cancerous growth of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cells grown in laboratory dishes, and also in animal models receiving implants of the cancer. One author called it a "very striking effect."

DLBCL is a heterogeneous group of lymphomas that develop in B cells of the immune system; they compose about 30 percent of non-Hodgkin lymphomas, which affect white blood cells and cause enlarged lymph nodes, fever, and weight loss. Standard treatment is chemotherapy and radiation, which cures about 60 percent of patients. Novel targeted drugs are being developed for treating relapsed and resistant disease in the remainder of patients.

There is much current interest in bromodomain proteins as drug targets in treating cancer. The proteins, which are not abnormal themselves, can stimulate over-activity of cancer-related genes.